


I Wanna Know What Love Is (Augustus Waters Fanfic)

by thewritergirl94



Category: The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
Genre: F/M, Mental Health Issues, augustus waters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-20 04:56:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14253495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewritergirl94/pseuds/thewritergirl94
Summary: The latest addition to Support Group, Casey Tremblay, is an enigma to friends Hazel, Augustus and Isaac. But particularly Augustus, who is immediately attracted to her. She's beautiful, shy and has a heartbreaking backstory. that makes Augustus even more infatuated by her. But being both so headstrong, will their relationship flourish? Or will there be bumps along the way that will tear them apart?





	1. You've Got a Friend in Me

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that as stated in the relationships, Augustus and Hazel were never together. In this story, they're big friends and she dates Isaac (my story, my rules). But I promise I will give all the characters from the actual book and movie justice. Some things will be the same, some will be the complete opposite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things are not synonymous with the book or movie, or either of them in certain instances. Like for example, nobody from the main characters dies, and Hazel and Gus are nothing more than very best friends, and she's dating Isaac. I'm sorry for the people that ship the main protagonists like myself :P but yeah, my story my rules!

Casey looked at the town hall with fear. She'd been to support group before, but it was with people she knew from her hometown of Edmonton. She'd only been in Indianapolis three days and she hated it. She gave her dad a concerned look, but he smiled weakly. Her dad has been her rock since her mom died several weeks before she moved to the US. Casey was close with both of her parents - in fact while her peers were picking favourites at a young age, she never did.

"Case, sweetie, you'll be just fine. Call me when you're finished and I'll be here. Dinner will be ready to heat while I'm at work." Then he gave her an encouraging smile. "You'll make plenty of new friends."

"I don't want new friends." she replied, giving her dad a final look. "I liked my old friends just fine." And with that, she stepped out of the van and slammed the door shut, She didn't look back as her dad drove off. She climbed the stairs and opened the door. Back in Edmonton, Support Group was a group of three counsellors and about 10 people. Most of them were older than her - only two were around her age... three years older than her. The rest were in their twenties, thirties and she thinks one was in their sixties, but then again, her perception of age is a bit wack.

To her amazement, there was only one adult, a man in his mid to late thirties dressed like a typical dad in one of those stock photos. Next to his chair was an acoustic guitar. Then there were three teenagers: a girl with a pageboy haircut and beautiful green eyes, nasal cannulas and an oxygen tank with the name PHILIP written in block letters with a sharpie  
on a piece of yellow tape next to her chair. The boy next to her was skinny, wore thick black-rimmed glasses and looked super cool. The only thing she could tell about the third teenager is that he wore a brown leather jacket and seemed taller than the others, because he had his back at her.

She must have been staring at them for a while, as the next thing she knew Glasses was walking up to her. She blushed as everyone, including Brown Leather Jacket, was facing her. He smirked the minute he laid eyes on her.

"Oh, come in!" the adult exclaimed, standing up with his arms stretched on either side. Glasses smiled as he grabbed her gently from her elbow and pulled her to the small circle. She was so busy observing the people in the room she did not realise they'd been waiting for her, and that there was an empty chair between the adult and the girl. "You must be the new girl."

"Um... yeah." Her eyes darted from one person to another as she sat down, facing Brown Leather Jacket, who, she now noticed, was very attractive. His smirk grew wider.

"Since we're a small group, I guess we can all introduce ourselves briefly." the adult smiled. "I'm Patrick, the head of this support group. I'm a cancer and suicide attempt survivor. Uh, I was once like you, new boy in a new town, and now I'm here, decades later."

"Hi!" the girl's voice was very raspy. "My name's Hazel Grace. Everybody just calls me Hazel." She smiled. Wow, Casey thought, she is so beautiful! "I have thyroid cancer, but I'm slowly going into remission." Glasses grinned at the mention of the word 'remission'. They seemed super close. "I struggled with depression a lot from the moment I was diagnosed. I wanted to end it all because, I thought, I'm still going to die right? But these people here, and my parents, kept me going. And, uh, here I am I guess." She chuckled.

"I'm Isaac." Glasses introduced himself boldly, fixing his glasses. Casey blinked. His right eye was brown, and the other green. "As you can see, I have Heterochromia. This has really affected my self-esteem and was bullied big time for it. I'm still learning to come to terms with the trauma of being bullied from childhood to just last week. But, hey, with a beautiful girlfriend like this one, I'm more than happy now." He reached for Hazel's hand and gave it a squeeze.

After a brief sielce, Patrick cleared his throat, and glanced at Brown Leather Jacket. Casey looked at him, and blushed lightly when she caught him staring back at her. "C'mon, Pat, do I have to?"

"Waters, all of us said something." Patrick dead-panned. "Name and brief background is enough."

Casey furrowed her eyebrows while Gus took out his wallet and three dollars from it. He placed it back in his jacket pocket.

"Wow, he's going all out." Hazel laughed.

"As Pat-Pat here said, I'm Gus. Full name Augustus, but I'm only called that when people are pissed at me." At the utterance of Pat-Pat, Patrick sighed and rolled his eyes. Casey tried not to smile. Seems this was something Patrick didn't enjoy being called. Seeing Casey hold back a smile made Gus grin. "Where do I begin with my problems? Uh... I developed PTSD and addiction due to... peer pressure, I also have some deep anger management problems stemming from childhood, I guess, I dunno... oh what else? Oh yeah, I swear a LOT, so Pat came up with the Swear Jar just for me. At the end of the month, we donate the money for cancer research or mental health awareness, depending on whose turn it is. This month it's cancer."

"Wow, did Gus just talk without swearing?" Isaac exclaimed, bemused. The reaction was the same with Hazel and Patrick. Gus grinned smugly.

"Well colour me impressed." Patrick laughed. "He finally did it. You," He pointed at Casey, who blushed on the spot. She hated herself for blushing so much in front of everyone, especially Gus, who has already started growing on her. "have made an effect of him."

"Um..." Casey was flustered.

"Your turn, hon." Patrick said gently. Gs sat up straight. Casey took a deep breath to calm her nerves, but she was still nervous.

"Uh, my name's Casey Tremblay... I'm originally from Edmonton, Alberta and--"

"Wow, a foreigner." Isaac joked.

"Isaac!" Hazel snapped, giving him a threatening glare after she elbowed him. Casey, for the first time since moving, chuckled. Gus had mixed feelings about the warm feeling he felt in the pit of his stomach when Casey smiled. She was even more beautiful smiling.

"It's okay, you're all are foreigners to me too."

Hazel and Isaac shared a knowing look before giving Gus another look. Casey didn't understand what the look meant, but she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as she suspected the look was about her.

"Go on, Casey." Patrick insisted.

"Anyways..." she cleared her throat. "I'm from Edmonton... I moved here with my dad three days ago. He works with the police, always has even in Canada." She was aware that everyone said why they were here, but she was still paranoid. Form the look on her face, Gus knew what was going through her mind.

"We're very open about our inner demons here. But the golden rule is: what is said in support group stays within the support group." Gus explained.

"Yeah, Casey, it's okay." Hazel chimed in.

Casey blinked, holding back her tears as she looked down at her short nails tugging onto loose threads from the bottom of her t-shirt. "I had social anxiety since I was a little girl. I wouldn't leave the house for days on end. Still don't sometimes. I never really connected with anyone outside support group. Uh ,what else?... I also have OCD, traits of bipolar... and... I guess that's it."

"Thank you for sharing, Casey. Like Gus mentioned, we don't speak about what it said here with other entities except ourselves. We're all friends here. We hang out a lot too, go on camping trips, dinner, movies... the whole nine yards. So don't be shy. You have a friend in all of us."

"You couldn't have picked a better Disney reference, Patrick." Casey smiled, referring to Toy Story.

"My favourite movie of all time." Hazel grinned.

"How dare you defile the masterpiece that is Titanic?" Isaac said, dramatically placing a hand over his heart in mock dismay.

Casey smirked. "Like a story on a sinking ship where a woman lets go of her lover is a better movie than a story of talking toys."

"Ooh, Isaac, you got burnt by new girl." Gus laughed, clapping his hands together. "I like you already, Case."

Casey blushed for the nth time during the session. Must he look at me like that all the time, she thought. Does he realise how ridiculous I look with this red face?

"Alright, alright, can we get back on focus now?" Patrick said, and took out five photographs from his bag. He shuffled them, and distributed them. Everyone kept them facing down. "Today we're doing something we've done a while ago. I have here five photos of random things. But as we very well know, different things can invoke different feelings to different people. You're going to speak about those feelings and then discuss together." The teens nodded. "You can now look at them." Everyone turned their photos. Gus furrowed his eyebrows and then let out a chuckle, Hazel frowned and Isaac peered at the photo as if inspecting it and kept turning it around and moving it close and away from his face. Casey looked at hers and sighed. Oh she had feelings about this photo of hers.

"Isaac, would you like to start?"

"Oh yes I will." Isaac replied. "In my photo... I... have a... an old woman." He turned his picture around so he sees. It was a woman well in her seventies, smiling broadly as she is looking down at a birthday cake. "And it's her birthday?" He looked at Patrick, confused. "Wait, how am I supposed to feel about this?"

"You can talk about a feeling in a birthday, or maybe related to an elderly relative. You can recount a memory, too."

"Oh, okay! Yeah, my 16th birthday would have to take the cake, no pun intended." Isaac smiled softly as if reminiscing. "My dad came over at mom's for the first time in three years to surprise me with my car. They actually spoke and tried so hard to make it work. It was since that day... that they started communicating again. And now they're friends. So now my birthdays make me happy. Oh, and it's the first birthday I spent with my girl."

"Stop it, you!" Hazel gushed, turning redder than Casey was a while ago. She then showed her photo to the others. "My photo has a flower, which I think is an orchid? Yes... yes, an orchid. I dunno... I'm indifferent about flowers. I mean they're beautiful and all, but I wouldn't be the type to stare in wonder at them for hours on end like my mom. She spends days gardening, but it makes me happy, because she's happy amongst all the plants, seeds and soil."

"In this photo, I have a photo of a man and a boy, which I will assume are father and son. I grew up without a father figure, and that really made me feel left out because whilst other boys' fathers cheered on them during football games, I had my mom. I tracked my dad down a few years ago. He has a family of his own, but he said he always wondered about me. And now we're on good terms. We meet up yearly, him, my mom and I and both our families. You can imagine how Christmas turns out every year. Casey?"

Casey showed the photo to everyone, and kept looking down at it. "I'll try to keep it short because I really wouldn't like to get emotional but... a sunset. This... this picture reminds me of a painting mom had across her bed in hospital. It was painted in acrylic paint and I remember she'd just stare blankly at it while I told her about my day at school, and all she'd say is 'Isn't sunset beautiful?' I would eventually grow to..." she gulped. It was a miracle she wasn't crying. Hazel, on the other hand, was tearing up. Isaac removed his glasses, rubbed an eye and put his glasses back on. Gus had a serious look of concern on his face. Patrick was equally sad. "... to hate sunsets. But, yeah, she eventually died during an actual sunset, in front of a sunset painting."

"Wow, Casey." Patrick said, his voice trembling. " _That's_ what I wanted to come out of this exercise. Bottled up feelings, confessions and things we never discussed beforehand. Kudos, Casey. And we're all deeply saddened by the loss of your mother."

She shrugged in response, and to avoid her from crying, Gus said, "I cannot wait to talk about this photo because..." He showed it to the others, and they laughed. Even Casey couldn't help but laugh. It seemed like a legitimate photo of a male toddler, his ass bare and a pair of granny panties on his head like a hat, because Patrick laughed as well whilst turning red. "Is this you, man?!" Patrick nodded, still laughing, his shoulders moving up and down. "Wow, damn, uh... apart from being amused and very happy now, thanks man, this actually does remind me of this one time when I was over at Hazel's when we were like, four or five, and it was a pool party, and I didn't know, so mom made me swim in the kiddie pool with my underwear. And it got so heavy from the water... okay, you can tell the resy, guys, can I not?" He started laughing hysterically. Casey joined in with the laughter.

"That's a cute story." she commented, and immediately blushed when Gus stared at her smirking and gave her a cheeky wink in response. Patrick looked up and cleared his throat.

"Session's up everyone. We'll see each other same time next week?"

Everyone started standing up and putting on their jackets. Isaac grabbed two chairs and put then next to each other in a corner, and did the same with the other chairs. 

Before Casey left, Hazel stopped her. "Me and the others are coming over to my house to watch movies and play video games. You're welcome to join us if you want." She grinned.

"Sure I would love to, Hazel. Want my number?" Hazel nodded and they exchanged numbers on each other's phones. "What time should I come?"

"Any time after noon would be great. House to ourselves."

"Great I'll see you then." Hazel gave her a wave before stepping into a red car driven by a woman whom Casey assumed was her mother. She then texted her dad that she was ready and sat down on the bottom of the stairs. Soon she was joined by Gus.

"Need a ride?" He asked her, standing in front of her. "I promise I'm a careful driver."

She smiled. "Thanks but my dad's coming to pick me up."

"Saw you talkin' to Hazel. Will I see you tomorrow at her house?" Casey smiled softly. Was that a hint of hope in his tone?, she thought. He is so gorgeous and well built!

"Uh yeah. Yeah I'll be there." Gus' smile broadened just as Casey's dad parked across the street. Casey gave her dad a wave and stood up. "That's my ride. I'll see you tomorrow, Augustus." Just as she ran up to her ride, Gus looked at her and sighed dreamily. He had already come to a conclusion on the new girl: she is beautiful, smart and he had a feeling also very funny. And he also didn't mind that she was the first person to call him by his full name in a positive way. I wouldn't mind being called Augustus by her, he thought before walking back to his car.


	2. The First Move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Casey shows off her true character and Gus makes a move.

Gus looked at the clock, impatiently waiting for Casey to arrive. Isaac noticed and smirked.

"Waiting for someone, Waters?" Isaac taunted him, startling him to the point where he jumped. Isaac laughed, catching Hazel's attention, who was preparing some snacks in the kitchen.

"Leave him alone, babe. It's sweet that he has a crush." For a moment, Gus was thankful that Hazel told Isaac off, until she mentioned the 'crush'. She shrugged innocently at his glare. "Don't look at me. Isaac was the one who assumed you do... but by the looks of it, you actually do."

"Oh, shut it, Haze." By then, Gus was so red his face had started heating up. He reached for a can of soda and drank it in one go. But it was (un)fortunately true, depends on how one saw it. It was only unfortunate because a) his friends won't let him live it down, and b) he didn't know her enough and he didn't want to jump into conclusions... not again, at least. "But really, it's almost 1."

As soon as he finished the sentence, a knock on the front door was heard. "Can you go get it please, Gus? Isaac's on the phone and my hands are full." Gus didn't waste time to jump off the couch and run (and almost trip on a carpet) to the front door. He fixed his hair - which he thought would be something a girl does - and opened the front door. Casey, who had her long, auburn hair up in a loose ponytail, was wearing a Star Wars t-shirt, black skinny jeans and yellow Converse. Next to her was a man in his early forties dressed in a police uniform. Gus immediately realised it was her father.

"Hey, Casey." he greeted her with a grin. She smiled back.

"Uh, Dad, this is Augustus Waters. He was in Support Group yesterday." she told her dad. Again, Gus almost melted at the mention of his full name, but on the outside he was as cool as a cucumber.

"Nice to meet you, Sir." he said, holding out his hand for a handshake, which Mr Tremblay accepted. Mr Tremblay pursed his lips and smiled.

"A firm handshake you have there, Augustus." he muttered observantly. Gus smiled proudly.

"Dad always maintains the important of a good handshake, Sir." he explained. Mr Tremblay laughed.

"Oh, please. Call me James." he told him. Gus nodded. "Hey, do you or anyone else here drive by any chance?"

"Yeah, just me, Si-- James."

"Great. Would you mind driving my daughter back home when you're finished?" He gestured his hand at her, who bit her lower lip to hide how shy of the situation she actually was. Her and a cute boy, alone, driving for 30 minutes to take her home? At night? Gus shrugged.

"Of course. I'll have Casey home safe, James. You can count on me."

"Thank you so much. I'm taking an extra shift this evening and I really cannot do otherwise. Thank you, really." James then turned to his daughter. "I'll see you in the future."

Casey smirked. "You mean the past." Gus was super confused. What were they on about?

"Exactly!" James exclaimed, before walking off to his car.

"What was that about?" Gus asked slowly as Casey stepped inside the house.

"It's from _Back the Future Part lll_. We quote movies sometimes..." Casey paused and shook her head. "... okay, a lot."

"That's really awesome." He closed the door with the back of his foot. "Yo, guys, Casey's here!" He took a plastic bag from her hand to carry it for her. She let him have it gratefully. "What do you have in here?"

"Oh, uh, some snacks and I found some movies you might like." she replied as he took out the things and placed them on the coffee table of the living room. Isaac and Hazel were sharing a La-Z Boy, with Hazel sitting on Isaac's lap, so Casey and Gus sat on the couch next to them. "Hey, guys." She gave a tiny wave to Isaac and Hazel, who grinned back.

"What the--?" Gus furrowed his brows and showed the front cover. " _The Birds_?"

"Yeah, it's a scary-ass movie by Alfred Hitchcock where a bunch of birds go bat-shit crazy." All three of them noticed it: the sparkle in her eye as she smiled and talked happily about the movie. She was almost a completely different person from the shy, quiet girl from Support Group yesterday. "Fun fact: Alfred Hitchcock used _actual_ birds for one of the scenes. It unfortunately left the actress in that particular scene traumatised for life."

"Wow, you really like your movies then." Isaac commented.

"My dad was considering studying film in New York, but then he met mom, and I happened." she laughed nervously. "So he's low-key trying to rub off his cinema knowledge on me."

"We can tell you're quite passionate about it too." Hazel said. "Is it what you want to do?"

Casey nodded, but her face showed uncertainty. "Yeah, i mean I love the idea of working in movies, but I could never leave dad, especially with mom gone..."

"Can we just watch the movie already, please? These snacks are lookin' me in the eye desperately wanting to be eaten!" Isaac desperately and dramatically exclaimed. Everyone laughed and he inserted the DVD in its drive and the movie started at once. Hazel quickly stood up to dim the lights. Casey took off her Vans and tucked her feet under her body, finding it to be the most comfortable position. Gus was sat normally, but seeing as she was so immersed in the movie, he slowly and discreetly scooted closer to her.

During the whole movie, Gus tried his hardest not to pay attention to the sounds of lips smacking together. He was actually into the movie choice. He glanced at Casey every now and then, finding her mouthing the words to the movie, which he found adorable, her posture very tense. 'Probably from those two making out' he assumed. _She_ was adorable. And smart, beautiful, funny, stunning... and he made up his mind there and then: by the end of this evening, he'd ask her out.

'But first, I need to make my move.' he thought, biting his lower lip with nervousness. He shook his head and frowned. 'Come on, Waters, you have been debating this since last night. Get on with it!'

Taking a deep breath, he stretched his arms over the top of the sofa, one of them ending up behind Casey's head. As soon as he did, he could feel she was less tense. He smiled triumphantly, and when he looked over to the other couple to share his victory with, he found them fast asleep.

"You know" Gus whispered softly. Casey noticed that his breath smelled like cigarettes. She didn't realise he was a smoker, because his now-standard brown leather jacket smelt like pine trees. She stared at him. "You can lean towards me if you want to." And so she did, her head in the crook of his neck. 'Holy cow, it actually worked!'

********************

When the credits started rolling, Isaac yawned. Realising they were awake, Gus retracted his arm and crossed his arms, whilst Casey scooted a foot away, blushing madly when she knocked over an almost finished bowl of salt crisps.

"Huh?" Hazel woke up with a jolt. "Is it over already?"

"Yeah, you kinda slept through it..." Gus said, feeling sorry for Casey, as it genuinely was a great movie for him (not only because it was her choice). Both Isaac and Hazel immediately felt guilty.

"Oh god, we're so sorry, Case." Isaac told her. She scoffed and laughed.

"It's okay. Horror isn't for everyone, I guess." she smiled. "If you want I have a comedy we could see next."

"I have a better idea! Let's play 'Never have I ever'!" Hazel suggested with a grin on her face. Gus looked over at Case for approval, who just shrugged. "I'll take that as a yes!"

"Since our good ol' Waters here is sober, he'll be drinking grape juice." Isaac explained, passing a poured glass to him.

"Can I have a glass too, please?" Casey asked politely. Isaac nodded and passed her one.

"Are you also sober?" Gus asked her. 

She shook her head. "More abstinent, I guess. It never really appealed to me, but at the same time I have nothing against those who drink it moderately."

"The more you know." Hazel joked, and everyone laughed."We'll all have grape juice then." She opened a nearby cupboard and took out a clear plastic bag containing many papers. "I've collected these remarks over the past few years, but it's been ages since we've last played it. By the way some of these are dirty as." Glancing at Casey, she asked "Wanna do the honours, babe?"

Casey grinned, fishing her hand in the bag, mixing the papers around. She reached for the first one and read it out loud. "Never have I ever flirted or cried myself out of trouble."

Unsurprisingly to everyone in the room, all of then took a sip.

"I got an F in a History test - something that has never happened before - and cried myself to exhaustion. A day later, the teacher told me he changed it to a C+." Hazel chuckled as she reminisced.

"I flirted my step brother out of a speeding ticket." Isaac told them. "The police officer was a woman in her mid-forties, mind you, but gorgeous nonetheless. You, Gus?"

"Flirted my way to a free drink when underage... does that count?"

"Kinda does." Casey replied, and all eye were on her for a story. "I was at a gaming store and wanted a gift for Fathers' Day and I didn't have enough money to get hm his favourite childhood game, so I flirted with the cashier." She laughed softly. "I ended up dating the guy for, like, six months after that."

"Wow, we are such good liars!" Isaac commented with a laugh. "Gus' turn."

Casey passed the bag to Gus, who immediately fished out a paper. He chortled. "Never have I ever taken sexy photos and sent them to a crush/ex/significant other."

This time, only Hazel and Isaac took a sip. Gus groaned, whilst Casey giggled at his reaction. "That is something I for sure didn't want to know."

"Sorry, bud." Isaac winked and took a paper himself. "Never have I ever had sex in a public place."

Everyone except for Casey drank, who was looking down at this point. She didn't want to open up about her love life, especially since it was inexistent. She wasn't surprised with Gus' confession, because he was handsome and had a feeling he was quite the bad boy type. Neither was she surprised with Isaac. She was, however, surprised with Hazel. She seemed like the sweetest girl.

"Beach." Isaac and Hazel explained at the same time. 'Ah, so Isaac turned her then.' Casey thought, chuckling softly to herself.

"'Twas a parking lot. Even though it was almost vacant." Gus told everyone, and hoped Casey wouldn't think less of him.

"Never have I ever broken something at someone's house and lied about it." Hazel read. To everyone's surprise, only Casey took a sip. "Casey!" she exclaimed, feigning shock. "How dare you!"

"What happened?" Gus wanted to know.

"I was at my gran's house for a Thanksgiving dinner, and it was the whole family there... my cousins, uncles, aunts, and my gran's four cats. And I'm the youngest cousin and was - I dunno - probably five or six? Anyways, us cousins were running around playing tag and I hit a wall unit and two china cups broke and I blamed it on the cats." Casey laughed throughout.

"Tremblay, welcome to the savage crew." Isaac said, raising his glass and drinking the rest of his grape juice before pouring in another one.

"I'm so far from savage, you wouldn't believe, Isaac." Casey replied, blushing and took another paper. She froze on the spot. "Can I pick another one? Please?"

"Why, Case? What's wrong with it?"

"I just..." It was staring her in the face. 'Never have I ever fallen in love'. She hadn't. She didn't know what it mean to be in love like Hazel and Isaac are of one another. Gus probably had more experience in love than she has for sure. She felt like a prude even though she has done things people wouldn't dream of doing. HOw comfortable is she supposed to feel with people she's known for less than 24 hours?

"Look, if you don't want to talk about it it's okay." Gus said, putting his arm around her and squeezing her shoulder. "We can change the game if you think so."

Casey sighed. "I feel like a burden, to be honest."

"You don't have to feel that way. We adore you!" Hazel insisted.

"Yeah, Canada!" Isaac exclaimed, earning a glare from Hazel and Gus for his choice of nickname, but Casey smiled at that. She truly underestimated these people. "Seeeee?! She likes it, babe!"

"How about 2 Truths 1 Lie?" Casey suggested. "It's a way we can all get to know each other since we'll be seeing each other weekly and more." Everyone grinned and nodded. "I'll start! Uh... I can play the piano... Ummm... lemme think... Oh! I once went to a concert without a ticket... and I can make a mean impression of Jack Nicholson in _The Shining_. Your guesses?"

Everyone put on their thinking faces. Hazel furrowed her eyebrows while mouthing words. Gus and Isaac said nothing, but one could tell they were deep in thought.

"I think it's the first one." Isaac finally declared. Casey bit her lower lip to keep herself from smiling.

"Nah, it's definitely the second one, man." Gus argued. "A concert without a ticket? She'd have been arrested for that!"

"I dunno..." Hazel said slowly, tapping her chin with her fingers. "I think our Casey has a bit of a bad girl side... dunno, girl, just a hunch... but you do have tall fingers and they kinda look like they can play a piano... g'oh I dunno! Second one?"

"Ready to know which is the lie?" Casey asked.

"Spill it out, man!" Isaac exclaimed, biting onto a nail from one of his fingers. Casey laughed. "Don't torture me like this, Canada." Casey laughed even harder.

"Okay... the truth is... I cannot play the piano, or any other instrument."

Gus groaned, whilst Isaac jumped up and down triumphantly. "I told you! Didn't I tell ya?!"

"I'd really like to know the concert story now." Gus smirked.

"It was a local band and the crowd was so huge me and my friends managed to get in without a ticket." Casey recounted.

All three were waiting for the same thing. "Did you get arrested?" Hazel asked curiously. After what seemed like several minutes of no response, Casey smirked and nodded. "Holy shit, Casey Tremblay!"

"What I'm really interested about now is you Jack Nicholson impression though." Isaac said, resting his chin on his hands, waiting eagerly.

Casey cleared her throat, and said in the closest possible Jack Nicholson voice, "What do you think you are, crazy or something? Well, you’re not! You’re not!"

"I am shook to the core." Hazel commented, eyes wide open.

"I like you even more now, Casey Tremblay." Gus blurted out. Casey looked at him and blushed. Hazel and Isaac gave each other a knowing look before continuing the game

********************

After playing another three rounds of 2 Truths 1 Lie, Casey became more comfortable with the other three friends, and even more so with Gus. She really liked him, and she felt like he could like her back. Starting from the way he looked at her the previous day, down to the move he made on her during the first movie (they then watched another couple movies, one Isaac's and one Gus' choice). Following the movies, Hazel's parents came home from work, and right after Casey was introduced to Mr and Mrs Lancaster, they all had dinner together.

At around 7 in the evening, Isaac left, and then followed Gus and Casey. The car ride to Casey's home - several minutes - was comfortably silent. Gus, on one hand, couldn't figure out how to make the first move. Casey, on the other, had conflicting thoughts. Was Gus being friendly with her? Or did he actually like her as more than one? She snapped out of her thoughts when the van rolled up the Tremblay driveway. He switched off the engine and for a second, both just sat there, doing and saying nothing.

'This is it, buddy. Just say it.' Gus thought, and took a deep breath. Casey glanced at him, and caught his eyes. "I, um..." 'No! Start over!' "Today was fun..."

Casey grinned. "It was!" 'Is he?' "We should..." she paused and licked her lips. "We should do it again sometime. But I'm not choosing the movies." They both laughed rather nervously.

"Uh, Casey?" She nodded. "Listen, I dunno if you... I mean-- what I'm really trying to say is..." She blinked expectantly. "Would you-- Would you like to go out sometime?"

There. He said it. It was out there. The silence following was unbearable for Gus. 'Say yes and make me happy, or say no and I'll bounce.'

"Like... on a date?" she asked. 'She had to ask... that means she's not into me.'

"If-if you want to... I mean I'm not... we can go to the old arcade or the m-mall... Just hang out, you know? I mean whatever you want, I-I'm fine with anything." Gus stammered, jumbling up his words as he used his hands all about. Casey smiled, finding his behaviour rather peculiar yet so adorable.

"I'd like that, Augustus." she finally replied. "The date part, I mean. I-I'm fine with that. Totally."

Gus finally exhaled, previously feeling out of breath. "Cool."

"Truth is... I like you too, Augustus Waters." Her beaming smile said it all to Gus. Casey could tell from the twinkle in Gus' eye that they both felt the same way.

"So... Saturday? Pick you up at 7-ish?"

Casey nodded and picked up her bags. "7 sounds great."

She leaned towards Gus and gave him a small peck on the cheek. She didn't want to seem too eager, which is why she aimed for the cheek. Gus seemed to think so, because he didn't move. What she didn't know, however, was that he was glued to the spot because he wanted to kiss her more. Preferably throughout the night. But they were both tired, and he knew Casey's dad could be home at any time.

Casey hopped out of the van and closed the door, but before she left, she softly uttered, "See you Saturday at 7, Augustus Waters."

He smiled back. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, sweetheart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seemed quite a hurried chapter, don't you think? I wanted to focus more on the four friends rather than just Casey and Augustus, but I also wanted him to ask her out! What do you think? As usual, any kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for the super long chapter! Ideas just kept coming in and I couldn't stop mid-way just so I can start a new chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading this! Any kudos and comments will be greatly appreciated and would help me with writing more for you all!
> 
> PS. I am not American, so certain slangs and facts on American/Canadian culture is based in research.


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